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UK APD / Air Passenger Duty charged for UK departures (Master Thread)

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Old Jul 18, 2014, 8:16 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: Prospero
(Link) to “United Kingdom Air Passenger Duty (APD) Charged UK Departing Passengers”

Link to html full APD tax law

APD rates as of 01 Apr 2020:
Band A (0 to 2,000 miles) £13 Reduced, £26 Standard
Band B (anything over 2,000 miles): Reduced £80, Standard £176

Infants and children
“Children below the age of 2 years who are not allocated a separate seat before boarding the aircraft are not chargeable passengers. If a seat is purchased for the infant then APD is chargeable.

From 1 May 2015, children who are under the age of 12 years on the date of the flight, and in the lowest class of travel, are not chargeable passengers. Children 12 years and over, or travelling in any other class, are chargeable passengers and APD is due.

From 1 March 2016 children who are under the age of 16 years on the date of the flight, and in the lowest class of travel, are not chargeable passengers. Children 16 years and over, or travelling in any other class, are chargeable passengers and APD is due.”

General notes:
distances calculated between national capitals - e.g. HNL calculated as WAS.
Link to Source: U.K. Excise Notice 550: Air Passenger Duty

APD is due when passengers pay to upgrade any stage of their journey

N.B. Arriving at a UK airport will not incur APD. Connections with less than 24 hours will generally not require APD*; you may have to have the rate desk intervene if you are not on a through ticket. As noted, "band distance" is calculated Capital to Capital.

APD is not charged on flights originating in the Scottish Highlands (INV) or Islands. APD is not payable on direct, Band B, flights departing Northern Ireland.

* Connecting flights exemption (UK APD regulation)
“The connected flights must be detailed on the same ticket or conjunction tickets to qualify for the exemption. Tickets can only be regarded as conjunction tickets if:

a. they are in one booklet, or
b. where they are in separate booklets:
each refers to the other and states that they are to be read in conjunction
there is a summary of the flights constituting the passengers journey including the flights in question

Although the flights may meet all the other criteria for determining whether Two flights are connected, they will only qualify for the exemption if the connection is evidenced on the ticket or a flight summary.”

AA (c/o JonNYC, post #219):


septix by JonNYCme, on Flickr
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UK APD / Air Passenger Duty charged for UK departures (Master Thread)

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Old Mar 10, 2016, 1:28 pm
  #136  
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges and Environmentally Friendly Travel
 
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Originally Posted by Dave Noble
For an AA award ticket there is still $32 in carrier surcharges ( even though BA does not charge them on its own paid tickets )
AAdvantage quotes me a carrier imposed surcharge of $0 against for BA shorthaul.
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Old Mar 10, 2016, 1:42 pm
  #137  
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Originally Posted by Prospero
AAdvantage quotes me a carrier imposed surcharge of $0 against for BA shorthaul.
Not if it is part of a journey to the USA. Try BA-AA INV-LHR-JFK and you will see a $32 surcharge in business class
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Old Mar 10, 2016, 3:05 pm
  #138  
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Originally Posted by Dave Noble
Not if it is part of a journey to the USA. Try BA-AA INV-LHR-JFK and you will see a $32 surcharge in business class
Gotya ^
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Old Mar 15, 2016, 9:13 am
  #139  
 
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I want to make sure i understand this correctly. I should be eligible for APD refund from AA based on my 2 separate trips.

I book United award one-way IAD-LHR (arriving 1030 am) and taking off with Etihad F next morning around 9 am (using AA miles). I paid APD taxes along with carriers' usual fee for my AA award trip and i figure that I just need show AA - proof of my United trip to get refund?

Thanks.
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Old Mar 15, 2016, 9:25 am
  #140  
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I'd be amazed if you got a refund for that itinerary... AA would have to add a reference to the UA flight to your itinerary then process the refund. I wouldn't hold out much hope.
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Old Mar 15, 2016, 10:17 am
  #141  
 
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Originally Posted by Microwave
I'd be amazed if you got a refund for that itinerary... AA would have to add a reference to the UA flight to your itinerary then process the refund. I wouldn't hold out much hope.
My best chance is grab AA or BA or IB or AY TATL hop to qualify for refund?
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Old Mar 15, 2016, 10:22 am
  #142  
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Originally Posted by washeelers747
My best chance is grab AA or BA or IB or AY TATL hop to qualify for refund?
Honestly your best bet would be to change your award to include a transatlantic flight with a connection in the UK of less than 24 hours. Anything else would have a low chance of success in my opinion. If you wanted to buy the transatlantic flight and were able to get it issued on 001 stock, that'd probably give you your best chances of getting the two separate itineraries to be read together and reference each other.
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Old Mar 16, 2016, 3:38 pm
  #143  
 
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Microwave,

Thank you for your advices. Right now, I have F tickets from LHR to BKK with EY/QR and right now, BA's 1st IAD-LHR flight arrive 650 am, which mean 27 hours in LHR so I think i'll settle on separate ticket for TATL leg. Hopefully BA will open up Y seat on 2nd flight later, then i should qualify for UK APD due to 20 hours in LHR.

However, how can I tell AA EXP agent to read two trips together because it's good bet that ill use AA miles for TATL leg to burn more AA miles.
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Old Mar 16, 2016, 8:45 pm
  #144  
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I don't even remember where this came from, but it's from late 2014, I think:

Separate Tickets - Tax based on Connection/Stopover (back to top)

For separate tickets when taxes are based on connection or stopover status, AA will not collect the additional tax when separate tickets have been issued. Example: GB tax. We will only do this if we can see both tickets (see Note 1). Cross reference the tickets in the endorsement box if possible. When applicable, the passenger will pay any additional tax at the airport. This separate ticket tax procedure will apply to all taxes that are charged based on connection/stopover status and is not dependent on ticket stock.

Note1: Viewing both tickets is not necessary If a passenger has cross referenced PNRs or two PQs in one PNR that are unticketed. We will accept the bookings as proof of the passenger's intent to have continuing connecting/stopover space.
and:

If the customer is connecting via Great Britain or France and holds 2 separate tickets, the tax will not apply if the tickets are cross referenced.

Please document PNR with:

** PASSENGERS CONNECTING VIA GB/FR IN PNR XXXXXX FOR TKT INFO. PREMIUM TAX DOES NOT APPLY **
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Old Mar 16, 2016, 9:20 pm
  #145  
 
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Jonnyc, that's a big help, and I notice that AA/UA have interline agreement so I think it's reasonable to call EXP agent and give my UA PNR for cross-reference purposes aka legit proof that it's less than 24 hours? I understand that I will not able to get refund till I actually fly, and i will need to call EXP line again to request APD refund, correctly?
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Old Mar 16, 2016, 9:32 pm
  #146  
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Originally Posted by washeelers747
Jonnyc, that's a big help, and I notice that AA/UA have interline agreement so I think it's reasonable to call EXP agent and give my UA PNR for cross-reference purposes aka legit proof that it's less than 24 hours? I understand that I will not able to get refund till I actually fly, and i will need to call EXP line again to request APD refund, correctly?
Not my area of expertise (to say the least,) unfortunately.
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Old Mar 17, 2016, 3:07 am
  #147  
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Originally Posted by washeelers747
I notice that AA/UA have interline agreement so I think it's reasonable to call EXP agent and give my UA PNR for cross-reference purposes aka legit proof that it's less than 24 hours?
AA cannot see UA bookings, full stop. From the bit Jon quoted above, "We will only do this if we can see both tickets." AA cannot see the UA tickets, so I would estimate your chances of APD refund when your connection is between AA and UA on separate tickets at very close to zero. Even for BA or IB, unless the itinerary involves AA then AA agents won't be able to see the BA/IB bookings in Sabre, and I'd be doubtful about that as well.

Also, just to be clear: a 27 hour connection in London will always incur APD, no matter who tickets and how you connect.
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Old Mar 18, 2016, 1:04 am
  #148  
 
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APD Refund for 12-15 year olds

I am flying on an award ticket next week which includes an inter-European BA flight in Y from Gatwick. I will be traveling with my two kids, ages 13 and 15.

In the BA 'Manage My Booking' it says the APD for 12-15 year olds traveling in Y was eliminated March 1, 2016. My tickets were originally purchased in June of last year so I imagine I was charged the APD for them (the fees were the same for the three of us it would seem like we all were charged it).

On the BA site it says as long as their birthdays are entered in the records (which they are) then the refund will be automatic and will be credited to the original form of payment. I am wondering if that will be the case since my ticket was booked on AA and is not a BA ticket number.

Wondering if anyone else has had luck with getting the automatic refund?

Last edited by KimT; Mar 18, 2016 at 1:13 am
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Old Mar 18, 2016, 11:34 am
  #149  
 
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Originally Posted by Microwave
AA cannot see UA bookings, full stop. From the bit Jon quoted above, "We will only do this if we can see both tickets." AA cannot see the UA tickets, so I would estimate your chances of APD refund when your connection is between AA and UA on separate tickets at very close to zero. Even for BA or IB, unless the itinerary involves AA then AA agents won't be able to see the BA/IB bookings in Sabre, and I'd be doubtful about that as well.

Also, just to be clear: a 27 hour connection in London will always incur APD, no matter who tickets and how you connect.
If the connection is less than 24 hours, it can be done.

A few years ago, I was travelling on Aegean ATH-LHR, then on an AA flight LHR-JFK. Since AA cannot see the Aegean booking, I was told to bring a copy of the Aegean booking, including the ticket number, to the airport.

It wasn't easy, but after explaining what I was trying to accomplish, the AA Ticket Agent called 'somewhere' (don't know which AA department) and after about 20 minutes, the AA ticket was reissued with the fee/tax removed. (See item b under Connecting flights exemption in the Wiki.)

I saved about $300, iirc.
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Old Mar 18, 2016, 2:50 pm
  #150  
 
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Originally Posted by AAMillionaire
If the connection is less than 24 hours, it can be done.

A few years ago, I was travelling on Aegean ATH-LHR, then on an AA flight LHR-JFK. Since AA cannot see the Aegean booking, I was told to bring a copy of the Aegean booking, including the ticket number, to the airport.

It wasn't easy, but after explaining what I was trying to accomplish, the AA Ticket Agent called 'somewhere' (don't know which AA department) and after about 20 minutes, the AA ticket was reissued with the fee/tax removed. (See item b under Connecting flights exemption in the Wiki.)

I saved about $300, iirc.
Interesting datapoint, I suspect that AA agents at LHR is familiar with this kind of requests. I would love to take care of APD refund before fly IAD-LHR w/United, but I doubt. You recommend me to fly FIRST with UA then share my UA details with AA ticket agent at T5 even I am not looking forward to hassles of transit to T4 for my Etihad F, but it's a #firstworldproblem moment.
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